Pubs: A Collection of Hotel, Inn, and Tavern Signs in Great Britain and Irelandto Which Are Added a Few Foreign Café Signs

This is a love letter to the strange and wonderful names British and Irish pubs have worn for centuries. Compiled in the early 20th century, this exhaustive catalog organizes thousands of pub, inn, and tavern signs into categories that reveal an entire nation's personality: agricultural signs honoring the cow, the plow, the harvest; ecclesiastical symbols from angels toanchorites; heraldic lions and unicorns; and the whimsy of coaching inns, hunting lodges, and historic battles. Each name becomes a portal to local history, dead humor, and the particular logic of a village naming its drinking establishment after the thing everyone remembers. The compiler gathered these signs with genuine affection, noting not just the names themselves but the cultural lore surrounding them. What emerges is a portrait of two islands told through the signs hanging over doorways - a catalog of what people chose to announce about their communities to the world. Whether you find yourself fascinated by the idea of the 'Tabard' or the 'Saracen's Head,' or you simply want to understand why the pub down the road is called what it is, this book rewards dipping into and wandering through.